Is Abstract Art Overdone, or Only the Pretty Kind?
Last updated: October 8, 2026
In short: Only the pretty kind, according to the art advisor who raised the question. Katharine Earnhardt of Mason Lane Art Advisory told Business of Home in 2017: "Pretty abstracts are a crowd-pleaser, but they're also completely overdone." In the same interview she added: "There are many, many abstract (and representational) artworks that are interesting and dynamic." What separates the two is a surface that still gives something on the return visit, chosen by the person who will live with it.
What did the advisor mean by "overdone"?
A decorative first impression, repeated. In Business of Home's "Art advising 101 with Mason Lane Art Advisory" (21 August 2017, by Katherine Burns Olson), Katharine Earnhardt names the common error of choosing a safe, expected abstract for a distinctive space: "Pretty abstracts are a crowd-pleaser, but they're also completely overdone."
She does not stop at the warning. Her advice is to "get something that the client will truly enjoy in the long-term," and she says "Cheap art kills a space" while "Quality art doesn't have to cost a fortune." On the subject of abstraction itself she is generous: "There are many, many abstract (and representational) artworks that are interesting and dynamic."
That interview is nine years old, and the distinction in it has not aged.
Is the problem abstraction, or the decorative version of it?
The decorative version. Richard Diebenkorn wrote a list of reminders to himself on beginning a painting, and the second one reads: "The pretty, initial position which falls short of completeness is not to be valued – except as a stimulus for further moves." (Royal Academy of Arts, 13 March 2015, reproducing the notes John Elderfield published in 1997.) Pretty is where a painting begins, in his view, and the work is everything after it.
Eugène Delacroix supplies the other half in his Journal: "The first merit of a painting is to be a feast for the eye." Pleasure is the first merit and never the last. A canvas that gives only the feast has the shortest life on a wall.
What makes art feel collected rather than decorated?
Time, and a point of view. In Business of Home's "What are your favorite sources for art?" (6 June 2025), San Francisco designer Maria Khouri says: "I like art that feels collected over time, not curated overnight." Nashville designer Lauren Sullivan of Well by Design says: "Good art doesn't always 'fit' perfectly—and that's exactly what makes it feel collected rather than decorated."
Cate Gutter of CWG Design in Charlotte puts the reason plainly: "Art is deeply personal, and what resonates with one client may completely miss the mark for another." Elliot Barratt of Elliot James Interiors, working in Singapore, Dubai and London, says the work is "guided by the client's personality, preferences, and the overall narrative of the space."
Four designers, four cities, one idea: the painting is chosen for the person and the story, and the match to the sofa is secondary.
Who is an abstract painting for if you are buying your first?
For the buyer whose own taste is the point. In Aspire Metro's "Maker Monday" interview with Katharine Earnhardt (26 October 2020, by Kelly Walters), the magazine describes her practice as "helping the entry level collector – a niche that didn't previously exist," and says "more art advisors cater to the more seasoned buyer." A client of hers wanted "each room in her home to look like it belonged to her and only her."
A first-time buyer is allowed to start without a vocabulary. Francisco Goya inscribed a late drawing of an old man walking on two sticks with the words "Aún aprendo," I am still learning. Paul Gauguin wrote to a friend in 1888 that "Color, which is vibration just as music is, is able to attain what is most general and therefore most elusive in nature: its inner force." A buyer can feel that force before being able to name it, and the naming comes later.
What does a painting that keeps giving look like at this studio?
It is built over time. Original paintings here are made in layers: oil thinned with medium, charcoal underdrawing, palette knife, fingertip, sometimes a whole composition painted over for weeks before it settles. The work stays in flux until it doesn't, a surface that has been argued with until it finally agrees. That is the opposite of a pretty first position, because the first position is only where the argument starts.
If you want to live with the surface before committing, the studio sends several videos of each finished painting before it ships, so you can watch it in different light.
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Frequently asked questions
Is abstract art overdone?
Art advisor Katharine Earnhardt of Mason Lane Art Advisory told Business of Home in 2017 that pretty abstracts are a crowd-pleaser but also completely overdone, and in the same interview said there are many abstract and representational artworks that are interesting and dynamic. The distinction is between a decorative first look and a surface that keeps giving.
How do I choose an abstract painting that lasts?
Look for a surface that is still doing something on your return visit. Richard Diebenkorn wrote that the pretty, initial position which falls short of completeness is not to be valued except as a stimulus for further moves, and designers quoted here favor art that feels collected over time and chosen for the person who lives with it.
Can a first-time buyer collect original art?
Yes. Aspire Metro described Earnhardt's practice in 2020 as helping the entry level collector, a niche it said did not previously exist, and noted that more art advisors cater to the more seasoned buyer. Goya's late drawing is inscribed with the words "Aún aprendo," I am still learning.
What makes an original abstract painting different from decorative art?
Process and authorship. At this studio an original is built up in layers over weeks, with oil thinned with medium, charcoal underdrawing, palette knife and fingertip, and it stays in flux until it settles.
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